Question

I am looking for a way to have a generic class with dynamic numbers of properties.

Example: (Class User)

User user1 = new User(1,"john","115 street","male",60,150, 15.125);
User user2 = new User(2,"john2","116 street","male",60,150, 15.125,"New york");

etc..

Can this be done in Java or could you recommend me any possible alternatives (if not)?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, Java doesn’t support dynamic properties.

You can hack that with:

1. Vararg methods. Use the following signature method(Object... objects).
   In that case you will have array of objects of your parameters passed to method – just process them as needed.

2. Map structure. I think its better solution, you have map with parameters inside your class. Where is key – name of your parameter and value its actual value.

   class User {    
   
   Map<String, Object> properties;
   
         Object getParameter(String key){
           return properties.get(key);
         }
         void addParameter(String key, Object value){
           properties.put(key, value);
         }
   
   }
   

Use method addParameter to add new parameter to your object.

Use method getParameter to extract value that needed (e.g getParameter("name")😉